South of the Northeast Kingdom - Hardcover

David Mamet was born in Chicago in 1947. He has taught at Yale Drama School, New York University, and Goddard College. His plays include American Buffalo and Speed-the-Plow. His awards include a Pulitzer Prize, two Obies, two New York Drama Critics Circle Awards, and a Tony. He lives in Vermont.

In this stimulating collection of essays, the author reflects on his corner of Vermont, the state he's called home for most of his adult life. Told in a digressive style that recalls languid conversation by an embering stove, the narratives begin with personal anecdotes, or stories of neighbors, then enter the world at large to find relevance to issues of the day: the attacks of September 11, the failure of Enron. Whether musing on the superiority of learning practical skills to abstract education or the honesty demanded by a show of hands at a town meeting versus the anonymity allowed by the Australian ballot, Mamet continues to offer economically sound reading, getting twice the mileage out of half the fuel. But despite generally rigorous thought and a lack of self-delusion (he admits, for example, he may be an interloper in the community he idealizes), it feels a bit romantically rustic that he should always find all is best in his small village. The rural lifestyle, after all, is not available to all, nor is character totally wanting in cities. Keir Graff
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